Ikigai is a Japanese concept that refers to something that gives a person a sense of purpose or reason for living.
The word "ikigai" combines two Japanese words: "iki" (生き), meaning "life," and "gai" (甲斐), meaning worth or value. Ikigai is often depicted as the intersection of four primary elements:
- What you love (your passion)
- What the world needs
(your mission)
- What you are good at (your vocation)
- What you can be paid for (your profession)
When these elements converge, they create a sense of fulfillment, happiness, and meaning in one's life. Ikigai is a holistic concept, encompassing joy, well-being, and a deep sense of purpose. It's often used as a framework for finding career satisfaction, personal fulfillment, and balance in life.
A couple years ago, I
had the pleasure of interviewing one Hector Garcia, author of Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life. From what I can tell, it's one of the first books written on the topic in the recent past, and seems to be among the most popular. In fact, I was a bit taken aback when I saw Hector's book at a bookstore in the Doha, Qatar airport while en route to Vietnam to live with Sana in 2022.
Rather than replay the interview from 2021, which admittedly is a bit
dated, I decided I would take some of the concepts Hector and I talked about in this email series, which will eventually become a long-form (more like long-winded) podcast.
Ikigai is more than a simple word; it's a tool for profound reflection.
Instead of asking someone about their life's purpose in a long-winded way, asking the question, "What is your ikigai?" can lead to deeper introspection.
It's simple, yet quite deep, a concept
both adults and children can comprehend. If you ask a child about their ikigai, you encourage them to think beyond conventional aspirations like money or status (or Video Games!) and consider what genuinely brings them joy.
My son Gabriel is discovering his own ikigai. Although it's the type of "process, not an event" type of progression, Gabriel is clearly prone to being an entertainer. He shows a natural aptitude for music and humor (wonder where he got
those qualities from) and it gives me some clues as to how to steer his energy as he develops as a person.
What Ikigai is NOT
Ikigai is not just another self-help concept making the rounds among popular cultural fads. It's a concept that is thousands of years old.
And while the Japanese call it ikigai, various cultures have different names for it. I don't think Energeia is an exact match with the term. I see it as more of that
which gives us divine energy, rather than the mission itself.
Ikigai is a lens through which we examine our lives, make decisions how to use our precious time, and discover what make us look forward to waking up each day.
To put it in more crass terms, it's that thing that makes us "forget to poop."
Ikigai is about finding joy and purpose in everyday life, a philosophy that resonates with people across the globe. When we go through
circumstances that decidedly lack enjoyment, it's that Ikigai that allows us to pull through and fight another day when we might be prone to throw in the towel.
**I'll be sharing more about Ikigai in future emails, and then recording them all into one podcast on the Energeia.LIVE podcast feed. If you want to listen to the few episodes on the feed I've published thus far, you can listen at this link: https://energeia.live